Product supply

Available formats for the product

OS VectorMap Local is supplied in four different formats:

• Raster: GeoTIFF (Geographic Tagged Image File Format) LZW (Lempel Ziv Welch)

  • Full Colour

  • Backdrop

  • Black & White

If LZW compressed formats are used, then registration may be required. Information is available on the Unisys® website.

• Vector: GML (Geography Markup Language) 3.2.1

• Vector: GeoPackage

• Vector: Vector tiles (MBTiles)

GeoTIFF option

GeoTIFF LZW is a TIFF file which has geographic (or cartographic) data embedded as tags within it. The geographic data can then be used to position the image in the correct location and with precise geometry on the screen of a geographic information display.

GeoPackage option

OS VectorMap Local is supplied in GeoPackage format. GeoPackage (.gpkg) is an open, non-proprietary, platform independent and standards-based data format for geographic information systems (GIS), as defined by the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC). It is designed to be a lightweight format that can contain large amounts of varied and complex data in a single, easy to distribute and ready to use file. GeoPackage is natively supported by numerous software applications.

For information on how to open, use and understand a GeoPackage dataset, please refer to our Getting Started with GeoPackage guide here.

Vector tiles option

OS VectorMap Local is supplied as a national vector tile set in a single MBTiles file (combined from individual PBF tiles). This is a lightweight set of tiles that are efficient to render in supported software, provide high-resolution data and give a seamless experience when zooming in and out. The data is supplied in Web Mercator projection (ESPG:3857).

Product supply mechanism

All formats are available to download from the OS Data Hub.

Please note that as OS VectorMap Local is a premium dataset, it requires users to hold the Premium or Public Sector Plan to access the data.

File sizes for the available formats

GeoTIFF

• 10 591 tiles, each covering 5km x 5km

• Each tile named as 5km, for example, NS56NE.tif

• Full supply or change-only update (COU) option; the order option will allow selection between full supply, changed tiles or no update

• Approximate file sizes:

  • Full Colour: 0.3 to 16.2mb

  • Backdrop: 0.3 to 15.8mb

  • Black & White: 0.1 to 6mb

As change is generated as real-world change as well as change created through the generalisation process, COU GeoTIFF data volumes will be high.

GML

• 10 591 tiles each covering 5km x 5km

• Each tile named as 5km, for example, NS56NE.gz

• Full supply or COU option; the order option will allow selection between full supply, changed features (COU) or no update

• Approximate file size of 15kb–1mb

As change is generated as real-world change as well as change created through the generalisation process, COU GML data volumes will be high.

Seamless data

Features that cross tile edges will not be cut, maintaining the topological relationships of all features. These tiles are often referred to as 'hairy' tiles. This avoids the creation of invalid geometries by arbitrary cutting and facilitates greater use of the data in analytical applications. Due to their size, some features (for example, tidelines and contours) will continue to be cut. There will be a requirement for some de-duplication around tile edges.

Seamless data around tile edges.

GeoPackage

• Full national set or area of interest (AOI) tiles are combined into a single GeoPackage file for each customer supply

• Single GeoPackage tiles will be de-duplicated

• Full supply option only, no COU

• Full national set with an approximate file size of 80gb

GeoPackage file naming

Full GB set:

• vml_gb_publication date’.file extension

• For example, vml_gb_20180101.gpkg

AOI orders:

• vml_ordernumber_randomnumber.file extension

• For example, vml_12345678_8765abcd.gpkg

Vector tiles

• A zipped file comprising a single national MBTiles file

• The single MBTiles file contains a full set of national vector tiles, with options available to split these out into individual tiles as PBF files

• Full national set with an approximate file size of 29gb

• The data is not encrypted

Vector tiles file naming

Full GB set:

• vml_gb.mbtiles

• When zipped: vml_mbtiles_gb.zip